DCE responds to Roosters\u2019 backflip rumours as Manly finals swansong dashed<\/a><\/p>\nPanel praise ref over Grant pen decision | 00:36<\/p>\n
As a game we can\u2019t have it both ways.<\/p>\n
We used to laugh a soccer for players taking dives and ridicule what a blight it was on their game.<\/p>\n
Now the boot is well and truly on the other foot.<\/p>\n
The only way to stop it would be if senior players like Cleary and Grant (and the leaders at every club) got together at the end of the season and came up with a gentleman\u2019s agreement that they would make sure none of their players ever stayed down unless they were genuinely injured.<\/p>\n
But good luck ever getting that to hold up when the pressure is on and two competition points are up for grabs.<\/p>\n
HARRY HOUDINI DOES IT AGAIN<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a shame the controversy stole the spotlight away from a cracker of a game decided by Grant\u2019s stunning match-clinching try.<\/p>\n
That was as smart a play as you will ever see on the rugby league field.<\/p>\n
Grant held onto the ball just long enough to fool the markers into thinking he was throwing it to Cam Munster for the field goal shot, when Grant took off through a gaping hole and pulled the Panthers\u2019 pants down.<\/p>\n
Xavier Coates\u2019 aerial acrobatics were almost as impressive.<\/p>\n
WALSH FIRES BACK AT CRITICS<\/p>\n
Now that\u2019s the Reece Walsh we want to see in the countdown to the finals.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been critical of Walsh of late for being too cocky and too inconsistent in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
But how Walsh orchestrated the thrilling comeback when the Broncos had their backs against the wall against the Dolphins just showed what a superstar this bloke is when he can cut out the mistakes.<\/p>\n
That cracking 40\/20 kick turned the game on its head, while he finished with 15 runs for 170m that included a try, a try assist, 10 tackle busts and three linebreak assists.<\/p>\n
He also put one over the sideline from the kick off but I promised myself I wouldn\u2019t mention that.<\/p>\n
GRAY DESERVES TO BE NO.1 AHEAD OF LATRELL<\/p>\n
Move over Latrell Mitchell.<\/p>\n
If Billy Slater came up with as performance as good as Jye Gray\u2019s in Souths\u2019 brave win over Parramatta you\u2019d be telling the grand kids about it in decades to come to help explain why Slater was so special.<\/p>\n
And Gray\u2019s three try-saving efforts in the space of about half a minute also showed exactly why Wayne Bennett has no option but to keep the pocket rocket at fullback when Mitchell returns from injury to play the Dragons this Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Tallis Duncan also had a tremendous game.<\/p>\n
Brilliant Bunnies defence defeats Eels | 02:21<\/p>\n
That effort when Duncan dived on the loose ball to snatch it out of the hands of Isaiah Iongi was exactly what Jason Ryles was referring to when Ryles spoke about how the Eels were beaten by a team who simply wanted it more.<\/p>\n
The other unsung hero for the Rabbitohs was Jai Arrow who was huge through the middle with 22 carries for 179m, along with 28 tackles.<\/p>\n
HAMMER NOT A HAPPY CENTRE?<\/p>\n
The Dolphins could have an issue on their hands when it comes to where to play Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow after what we saw from Trai Fuller in his NRL return.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no secret Tabuai-Fidow signed with the Dolphins because he wanted to play fullback but was ranked behind Scott Drinkwater at the Cowboys.<\/p>\n
Yet as we saw in Fuller\u2019s first game back from an ACL knee injury, this bloke deserves to be in the Dolphins top squad going forward.<\/p>\n
The concern for Kristian Woolf is that \u2018Hammer\u2019 didn\u2019t look happy.<\/p>\n
Hammer was either off his game or not impressed about playing in the centres judging by some of his defensive efforts on Kotoni Staggs that were just embarrassing.<\/p>\n
WALKER THE ROOSTERS\u2019 SUPERMAN<\/p>\n
Ricky Stuart spoke recently about why Raiders young gun Ethan Strange deserves a spot on Kevvie Walters\u2019 Kangaroo tour.<\/p>\n
What about Sam Walker?<\/p>\n
Since his return from an ACL knee injury, Walker has been unbelievable for the Roosters, just confirming exactly why he has long been rated the game\u2019s next superstar halfback.<\/p>\n
The problem for Kevvie is if everyone is fit, Australia has a stacked line up of playmakers to choose from with the likes of Nathan Cleary, Mitchell Moses, Cam Munster and Tom Dearden, along with Strange and Matt Burton.<\/p>\n
While Strange and Burton can play multiple positions, Walker is an out-and-out seven.<\/p>\n
But don\u2019t tell me he doesn\u2019t have rep footy written all over him.<\/p>\n
Robbo talks Roosters new pack leader | 06:25<\/p>\n
WILL ROOSTERS MOVE TARNISH DCE\u2019S LEGACY?<\/p>\n
Daly Cherry-Evans has been a champion player, but his time is up.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t see how DCE comes back next year for the Roosters and doesn\u2019t do an injustice to his legacy.<\/p>\n
Sure, every now and then he can still turn one on for old time\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n
But the Roosters are kidding themselves if they expect DCE to come in over the top of young Hugo Savala and for it not to blow up in their face.<\/p>\n
Haven\u2019t the Roosters learned from the Chad Townsend experiment this year?<\/p>\n
SEIBOLD ON DANGEROUS GROUND<\/p>\n
Manly\u2019s loss to Wests Tigers on Sunday also builds more pressure on Anthony Seibold.<\/p>\n
There is no question the Sea Eagles\u2019 depleted forward depth has left Seibold coaching with basically one hand tied behind his back.<\/p>\n
But while no one at Manly seems to want to publicly admit it, there are also some very senior players who have lost faith in Seibold\u2019s coaching style.<\/p>\n
This story won\u2019t go away no matter how hard Sea Eagles officials try to shut it down as outside noise.<\/p>\n
The fact is the noise is coming from within.<\/p>\n
“Worst performance in a long time” | 06:57<\/p>\n
CIRALDO NOW PUTS BLOWTORCH ON DOGS\u2019 FORWARDS<\/p>\n
Just when you thought Cameron Ciraldo was ready to settle on his line up after dumping Toby Sexton and Reed Mahoney to bring in Lachlan Galvin and Bailey Hayward, Ciraldo has now taken aim at his forward pack.<\/p>\n
And he didn\u2019t mince his words when he spoke after the Bulldogs\u2019 loss to the Roosters, conceding \u201cwhen the intensity went up, a few guys didn\u2019t want to go with it\u201d.<\/p>\n
There has been a question mark hanging over the Dogs pack all season, and whether they are big enough to compete with the heavyweight teams in the big end of season games.<\/p>\n
But Ciraldo also singled out a drop in standards at training for the recent lack of consistency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had consistency for three quarters of the year. The last month has been disappointing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sort of blame myself there because we\u2019ve got some guys carrying niggles and they just get through training instead of actually training.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to stop that. If you can\u2019t train, it sort of results in a performance like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It will be interesting to see if the Dogs can turn it around against the powerful Storm pack on Friday night.<\/p>\n
Ciraldo hints at changes after big loss | 06:22<\/p>\n
TIGERS HAVE OFFICIALLY TURNED THE CORNER<\/p>\n
It was great to see the Tigers back up their gutsy win over the Bulldogs with a dominant win over Manly.<\/p>\n
That ensures the wooden spoon will be going elsewhere this year, and the Tigers have officially turned the corner with Benji Marshall looking increasingly comfortable at the wheel.<\/p>\n
While the Tigers remain an outside chance of making the top eight, it\u2019s unlikely given they\u2019d need to win all three remaining games and hope others above them fall over.<\/p>\n
Still, there is no doubt the Tigers have the talent to be a top eight team next year if they can continue on this path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Nathan Cleary really wants to take the moral high ground and be an advocate to stop players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[60068,2095,8082,60067,64,63,9421,11170,60054,485,7618,60060,4579,9418,7673,17343,4430,60073,60055,60051,60064,60058,8092,38153,60070,37304,54392,53903,1973,11402,4575,4494,4556,4473,60057,23995,3512,779,27146,4601,11385,60059,4466,60072,60071,22326,4572,1203,2041,2067,60065,60056,11396,60062,4598,60063,60052,60066,14444,32913,13391,60074,7291,60069,53271,60061,43455,4478,11395,17989,4439,85,60053,20428,11375,4423,4440,776,4737,45262,7619,2614,1651,4515,9020],"class_list":["post-78645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-aerial-acrobatics","tag-america","tag-anthony-seibold","tag-arent","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-benji-marshall","tag-billy-slater","tag-bunker-chime","tag-california","tag-cameron-ciraldo","tag-care-factor","tag-chad-townsend","tag-comeback-win","tag-competition-points","tag-daily-telegraph","tag-daly-cherry-evans","tag-defensive-brilliance","tag-defensive-efforts","tag-diving-incidents","tag-dominant-win","tag-emergency-treatment","tag-field-goal","tag-field-goal-attempts","tag-field-goal-shot","tag-golden-point","tag-golden-point-win","tag-grant-fools","tag-hollywood","tag-hugo-savala","tag-jahrome-hughes","tag-jai-arrow","tag-jason-ryles","tag-josh-king","tag-josh-morris","tag-jye-gray","tag-knee-injury","tag-kristian-woolf","tag-linebreak-assists","tag-manly-sea-eagles","tag-match-officials","tag-medical-experts","tag-melbourne-storm","tag-minor-crusher-tackle","tag-minor-kick-pressure","tag-mitchell-moses","tag-moses-leota","tag-nathan-cleary","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-panel-praise-ref","tag-panthers-game","tag-paul-crawley","tag-penalty-incident","tag-penrith-panthers","tag-play-kicks","tag-pocket-rocket","tag-question-diving","tag-question-mark","tag-receiving-end","tag-reece-walsh","tag-rep-footy","tag-ricky-stuart","tag-roosters-coach","tag-rugby-league-field","tag-safety-kind","tag-sam-burgess","tag-sam-walker","tag-season-games","tag-senior-players","tag-south-sydney-rabbitohs","tag-sports","tag-stop-diving","tag-superstar-halfback","tag-tackle-busts","tag-tallis-duncan","tag-toby-sexton","tag-tom-dearden","tag-trent-robinson","tag-triple-m","tag-try-assist","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-wayne-bennett","tag-wests-tigers","tag-young-gun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}